Inside the room prepared for him and under the light of thick, foul-smelling candles, Arthur sat on a hard bed made of leather and thick wool, eating his food slowly. In front of him was a table with grilled meat, some vegetables, and hard pieces of bread. The food wasn't good—despite being prepared by the best cook in the barony, it barely had any noticeable flavor due to the complete lack of spices. They also used poorly processed rock salt, which left an earthy taste. Not to mention how tough the food was—especially the bread, which was like rubber.
Despite his hunger, his mood wouldn't let him eat. After a few bites, he stopped and sighed. 'What do I do now? If most of the soldiers leave to search for the bandits, security will loosen, but that's not enough. The Baronette certainly won't allow me to leave his sight—he'll assign someone to accompany me.'
The Baronette was the lowest rank among the feudal nobility, and only a few of them existed in the entire kingdom. Most baronies were ruled by real Barons. Only the very small or insignificant baronies—like the Barony of Thornsreach—were ruled by Baronettes.
Thornsreach was the largest barony in the province, but most of its land was made up of untamed forests filled with thorny shrubs. This was because the barony was located on the outskirts of the infamous Thorned Darkwood. In fact, Arthur was lucky he had only roamed around the safe eastern outskirts and hadn't ventured too deep into the forest—there were several vile beasts there that would have killed him on sight. Given how dangerous the area was, the barony's population was extremely low. It had no valuable resources, and even its farmlands were very scarce.
"I only have a few days to come up with a solution. I must not meet the real Arvan—that bastard will rape my corpse if he finds out I've stolen his identity." His fear wasn't baseless. In the novel, Arvan had done evil things so twisted they defied logic, and was intensely hated for it.
Exhale!
"There's no solution… even if I escape now, I won't live in peace given how dangerous this world is. I need to go back home." Suddenly, he realized he had overlooked something.
"Wait a minute—if this really is the world of the novel, doesn't that mean there are mages? And Boundless? That means I can surpass the limits of humanity and increase my power. Yes—power rules in this place. I must rid myself of this weakness."
In this world, humans could follow one of three specific paths to gain superhuman abilities that went beyond ordinary men.
The first path—and the most common—was to cultivate the body, pushing it beyond its natural limits through relentless training and strengthening potions.
Humans who surpassed their limits in this way were called Boundless. They were divided into seven tiers based on their strength, with E being the weakest and SS being the strongest. Upon reaching tier D, Boundless individuals gained unique abilities that could not be obtained through training alone—like the skill Knight's Presence, which could terrify enemies through speech alone. Other techniques like swordsmanship or spearmanship could be acquired through pure training.
The second path was becoming a mage. Unlike the Boundless, sheer effort wasn't enough to become a mage—one needed a Mana Heart, also known as a Wizard Bloodline. This was a natural affinity for mana in the world and the ability to store it within the body. Using specific incantations, mages could manipulate mana's nature and transform it into lethal attacks or impenetrable defenses. Like the Boundless, mages were also divided into seven tiers from E to SS.
The third path, unlike the first two, wasn't defined by a specific type of strength or energy. It had no clear classification. It encompassed everything bizarre and beyond common sense—like legendary weapons that bestowed tremendous power upon their wielders, contracted beasts that could defend their masters and slay their foes, or strange bloodlines and unique techniques that granted humans abilities surpassing the norm. Individuals who fell into this category were called Arcanes due to the mysterious nature of their abilities. They, too, ranged from tier E to SS.
"I only have a month… System, do I have talent for magic?" He knew everything about mages and the Boundless, so he knew what to do and how to train. But first, he needed to understand how talented he was—his potential would define his future.
'I know some advanced techniques for absorbing mana. That will reduce my training time and improve the quality of my magic.' He smiled faintly—his knowledge was a treasure no one else in this world possessed.
[You possess no magical potential. You cannot practice magic.]
Arthur's expression froze. His mind went blank. After a long silence, he asked, "You're joking, right? How can I not have any talent for magic?"
[You do not possess a Mana Heart. You have no affinity with mana. It is impossible for you to become a mage.]
Even after hearing the confirmation, Arthur couldn't accept it. After a whole minute of denial, he asked nervously, "What about my potential as a Boundless? Don't tell me that's zero too."
[You have talent as a Boundless, but it is very low.]
Arthur smiled strangely, unable to believe what he was seeing. In short, he had no hope of significantly increasing his strength in a short time. In despair, he cursed his luck.
"Why… why don't I have anything good? At this rate, I'm really going to die."
Panic began to overtake him. He jumped out of bed, ready to run—but he knew that would be pure madness. He paced back and forth across the room, unable to stand still or stay calm.
[Given your knowledge of this world's nature, can't you follow a path different from the others?]
The moment Arthur saw the system's advice, his anger grew, and he cursed under his breath. "Do you think power appears from nothing? I need to have good talent first—or at least a large amount of money to buy strong weapons or hire powerful mercenaries…"
While complaining, he suddenly went silent. He stopped pacing in panic.
He stood still, deep in thought. After a few minutes, he raised his hand and smacked his forehead. "I'm such an idiot—how did I not think of it this way? I know everything about this world. I know what's going to happen next. How could I overlook this?"
[Have you thought of a solution?]
"You could say that." Once he regained his composure, Arthur's mood improved drastically. He quickly sat back down and resumed eating—his appetite had returned.